Campers leave their camp after storm destroys their tents

Leeds festival ticket holders have described Friday as the “worst day of their lives” after 60mph winds blew away tents and demolished urinals.

Many campers left the Bramham Park site when Storm Lilian caused stage closures, show cancellations and damage.

Fences came down and a van window was smashed by a falling wall as organisers closed stages at BBC Radio 1, Aux and Chevron.

Attendees have been advised to stay in their tents, but with calmer weather forecast for Saturday, festival management said they hoped to reopen the Chevron at 12:00 BST.

The health and safety team confirmed on Friday evening that it would not be possible to open the BBC Radio 1 and Aux arenas for the duration of the weekend.

A teenage festival attendee said it was the “worst day of her life” after her group’s tent was destroyed.

Carrie Gill, 19, said: “All the rain got into the tent because the poles were pulled so hard by the wind that the fabric tore.

“All the shops have been taken away, the walls of the urinals are gone, people’s tents are in the sky, shirts and things from the shops are gone. It’s really terrible here.”

She and her friends had been asked to leave their camping area for safety reasons.

Declan Donnelly, a 20-year-old from Manchester, said he saw tents abandoned by people who had chosen to return home.

“We had to hold our tent up for about one to two hours and secure it with double pegs, because when the gusts hit it was almost blowing away.

“It seems that the situation has calmed down now, but there are many torn, collapsed and destroyed tents, and a few others remain.”

Dylan Maggs, 26, said he saw the perimeter wall collapse onto empty tents and smash the window of a van.

“We laugh, there’s not much else we can do, it’s annoying but that’s how it is. We’ve seen a lot of people abandon their tents and leave,” he added.

The main stage remained open Friday, but scheduled opening act Renee Rap canceled her performance due to concerns about her crew’s safety during setup.

The Prodigy is one of the big names expected at the Chevron later this weekend.

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